Lettering template construction



April 2, 1968 c. E. TOWNSEND, JR 3,375,591

LETTERING TEMPLATE CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 1,- 1966 INVENTOR.

[ownse'nA J ounsen ATTORNEYS CHARLES E.TOWNSEND.Jr. v

3,375,591 Patented Apr. 2,, 1968 3,375,591 LETTERING TEMPLATECONSTRUCTION Charles E. Townsend, In, 73 Orchard Road, Orinda, Calif.94563 Filed Aug. 1, 1966, Ser. No. 569,307 8 Claims. (Cl. 33-174) Thepresent invention relates generally to the art of lettering templates orrules.

The particular embodiment of the present invention which is illustratedin the drawings, and which will be described in greater detailhereafter, comprises a base member formed with a longitudinal slidewayin which is removably and slidably mounted a lettering template or ruleformed in the usual manner with longitudinally spaced apart letter guidecutouts by which signs or cards may be lettered with a writing stylussuch as a pen or pencil. The base member is also formed with asignreceiving recess which extends transversely to the slide- Way and isadapted to receive and retain a sign card or other workpiece to belettered. Such a sign card is located in the slideway at a positionimmediately underlying the lettering template, whereby the template maybe moved longitudinally in the slideway to selectively position andregister any desired letter guide cutout with the workpiece during thelettering of a given sign.

A novel feature of the present invention resides in the provision ofindexing means for physically engaging and slidably indexing thetemplate to preselected positions of registry relative to the signreceiving recess.

More specifically, the present invention, in its broader aspects,provides for a plurality of contact members each individually Visuallyassociated with a letter guide cutout of the template and which saidcontact members are rigidly attached to and extend upwardly from thetemplate in such manner that each may be easily engaged by the tip ofthe writing stylus and employed as a means for sliding the template todesired position relative to the sign as each letter on the sign is tobe written or printed by the user.

In the more specific aspects of the invention the indexing means and thetemplate are formed from an integral length of sheet material into asubstantially L-shaped cross section wherein the foot of the L definesthe template portion and the stem of the L defines an upwardly extendingflange having its upper edge formed with a plurality of notches .Whichare spaced apart from one another corresponding to the spacing betweenthe letter guide cutouts of the template. Such construction provides anotch on the flange in visual registry with each of the individualletter guide cutouts of the template. As above indicated, the user ofthe device can conveniently position and locate the letter cutout on thetemplate corresponding to the next letter to be printed merely byengaging with his writing stylus the notch that is visually associatedand physically aligned with the selected letter, and through suchengagement he may slide the template quickly and accurately to properposition relative to the sign being lettered.

A principal object, therefore, of the present invention is to provide asign lettering device of the character alluded to above in which thereis provided a means for rapidly and accurately slidably indexing thetemplate relative to the workpiece being lettered. I have observed incertain prior art devices in which there is provided no equivalentindexing means as is embodied in the present invention, that the usermust exercise considerable manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination inorder to slidably move and accurately index the template as eachconsecutive letter is printed. Generally speaking, users of such priorart devices find it either necessary or convenient to use both hands inorder to manually engage one end or the other of the sliding tern-plateduring sign lettering operations. Not only are such manipulationsawkward, but they are also time consuming and involve the necessity ofthe user having constantly to shift his eyes back and forth from thetemplate to the preselected position on the sign where the next letteris to be printed. With the present invention very little manualdexterity is required to operate the device. The user can mostconveniently employ the writing end of the stylus to move the template,and once he has visually selected the next letter on the template andhas engaged with his stylus the indexing notch associated with saidletter, the user may shift his eyes back to the exact location on theworkpiece and slidably move the selected letter on the template intocorrect position and alignment relative to the workpiece.

A more specific advantage and object of the invention is to provide asliding template which may be much more readily inserted and removedfrom the slideway than may flat template sliding rules incorporated inprior art devices of which I have knowledge. In this connection flattemplates in prior art devices of the character described must beremoved or inserted from one end or the other of the slideway. This isbecause the slideway in such devices consists of parallel grooves intowhich the marginal edges of the template are slidably retained. Thus, toinsert a flat rule template into a conventionally constructed slideway,it is necessary that the user physically align or thread the edges ofthe template into the grooves of the slideway from one end or the otherof the slideway. Such manipulations are time consuming, awkward, andrequire a fair degree of manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination.

In the specific embodiment of the present invention wherein the templateand indexing flange are formed from an integral sheet of material thatis substantially L-shaped in cross section, the device may beconstructed so that the template may be swung or lifted out of theslideway rather than having to be slid in and out of the slideway asmentioned in reference to prior art constructions. More particularly, bymaking the template and indexing flange L-shaped in cross section, theslideway need be formed with only a longitudinal groove into which maybe inserted, from above, the outer unflanged or leading edge of thesliding template. Further, the upwardly extending flange provides aconvenient handle means for gripping the device and lifting it into andout of the slideway. v

Other objects and advantages of the present invention Will becomeapparent upon reading the following specification and referring to theaccompanying drawings in which corresponding numerals representcorresponding parts in each of the several views.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional perspective view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional perspective view of the letteringtemplate;

FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 1 but shows the insertion and removal of thelettering template;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the lettering template when formedfrom an integral sheet of material; an

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the lettering template.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the letteringdevice comprises generally a base member A having a longitudinalslideway B therein and a template C formed with letter guide cutouts 17which template is inserted in the slideway B for use in lettering signcards, display cards, and the like.

The base member A comprises an elongated generally flattened piece ofplastic or other material into which is cut a lengthwise slideway 12.Intersecting said slideway is a sign-receiving recess 13 which extendstransversely the slideway and is so disposed that a sign card or otherworkpiece placed in said recess will be directly below the slideway 12and the template 11 disposed therein.

As may be seen in FIG. 2, the template 11 comprises a horizontal part 14in which are formed the letter guide cutouts 17, and an upward-extendingindexing flange 15 extending substantially the entire length of thetemplate and having indexing notches 16 formed therein. Each indexingnotch 16 is physically and visually associated with a correspondingletter guide cutout 17. It may be seen in FIG. 5 that the indexingflange 15 extends upward from the horizontal part 14 of the template andthat the indexing flange is offset laterally a distance 19 from theletter guide cutouts in the horizontal part 14 of the template. Theindexing flange 15 has been shown in these figures at an angle ofapproximately 70 to the horizontal part 14 although this angle is notcritical.

In using an embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 3, theleading edge 20 of the template is inserted in a longitudinal grooveformed along one edge of the slideway groove and the entire templateswung downward and slidably inserted so that it is fully in positionwithin the slideway 12. The starting position of the template isillustrated by dashed line outline in FIG. 3. In removing the templatefrom the slideway the steps are reversed. The indexing flange 15 may begrasped and swung upward as shown by the arrow; then the entire templatelifted from the slideway. After the template is in place within theslideway, the user may place a sign card or other workpiece in the signreceiving recess 13 so that the workpiece is disposed directly beneaththe horizontal part 14 of the template and its letter guide cutouts 17.As shown in FIG. 1, the user may place a writing stylus such as a pencil21 in an indexing notch 22 visually and physically associated with acorresponding letter guide cutout 23. The user may then slide thetemplate quickly and accurately into proper position relative to thesign being lettered.

The lettering by the user is made more convenient by the construction ofthe template wherein, as shown in FIG. 5, the indexing flange 15 islaterally displaced a distance 19 so that there is no interference ofthe upwardextending indexing flange 15 with the writing stylus when saidstylus is in use in the letter guide cutouts.

These and other modifications of my invention may be practiced, it beingunderstood that the form of my inven tion as described above is to betaken as a preferred example of the same. Such description has been byway of illustration and example for purposes of clarity ofunderstanding. Various changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention as limited only by the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. In the art of lettering templates the combination comprising: a basemember formed with a longitudinal slideway; a lettering template formedwith longitudinally spaced-apart letter guide cutouts; said templateslidably mounted in said slideway; a sign-receiving recess in said basemember in registry with said slideway and underlying said slidabletemplate; manually engageable indexing means for slidably indexing saidtemplate to preselected positions of registry relative to said recess;said indexing means comprising a plurality of contact members eachindividually visually associated with a letter guide cutout of saidtemplate; said contact members attached to said template and extendingupwardly there from in visual alignment with their respectivelyassociated letter guide cutouts.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said indexing means comprisesa flange extending substantially the entire length of the template andextending upwardly therefrom at a location laterally offset from theletter guide cutouts; said flange formed with contact pointslongitudinally spaced apart from one another corresponding to thespacing between the letter guide cutouts of the template; the center ofeach contact point disposed in a plane substantially bisecting itsvisually associated letter guide cutout, whereby to permit the user toengage a selected contact point with a writing stylus and to slidablymove the letter guidecutout visually associated with said contact pointto a preselected position of registry relative to said recess.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said template and flange areformed from an integral sheet of material; said flange comprising anangul-arly upwardly bent extension of one of the longitudinal marginaledges of the template portion.

4. The combination of claim 2 and wherein each contact point is definedby a generally V-shaped notch formed in the upper edge of said flange.

5. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said template and flange areformed from an integral sheet of material generally L-shaped in crosssection, and where in the foot of the L defines the template portion ofthe integral sheet and wherein the stem of the L defines the flangeportion of the integral sheet.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein the stern of the L is disposedat an acute angle relative to the foot of the L.

7. The combination of claim 5 wherein the slideway of the base membercomprises a longitudinal groove formed along one edge of the slidewayand wherein the outer longitudinal leading edge of said template portionof said formed sheet isslidably insertable in said groove and whereinsaid flange portion of the sheet can be swung upwardly from theslideway.

8. In combination with a base member having a slideway and an elongatelettering template with longitudinally spaced letter guide cutoutsformed therein mounted for slidable movement in said slideway above aworkpiece to be lettered, the improvement comprising a longitudinalflange connected to and extending upwardly from said template, saidflange defining a plurality of manual contact points each visuallyaligned with a respectively associated letter guide cutout in saidtemplate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1928 Conti 33l74 7/1964Paparozzi 331-174

1. IN THE ART OF LETTERING TEMPLATES THE COMBINATON COMPRISING: A BASE MEMBER FORMED WITH A LONGITUDINAL SLIDEWAY; A LETTERING TEMPLATE FORMED WITH LONGITUDINALLY SPACED-APART LETTER GUIDE CUTOUTS; SAID TEMPLATE SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN SAID SLIDEWAY; A SIGN-RECEIVING RECESS IN SAID BASE MEMBER IN REGISTRY WITH SAID SLIDEWAY AND UNDERLYING SAID SLIDABLE TEMPLATE; MANUALLY ENGAGEABLE INDEXING MEANS FOR SLIDABLY INDEXING SAID TEMPLATE TO PRESELECTED POSITIONS OF REGISTRY RELATIVE TO SAID RECESS; SAID INDEXING MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF CONTACT MEMBERS EACH INDIVIDUALLY VISUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH A LETTER GUIDE CUTOUT OF SAID TEMPLATE; SAID CONTACT MEMBERS ATTACHED TO SAID TEMPLATE AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THEREFROM IN VISUAL ALIGNMENT WITH THEIR RESPECTIVELY ASSOCIATED LETTER GUIDE CUTOUTS. 